AAR - FT320 OSASTO BJORKMAN

von Marwitz

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AAR - FT320 OSASTO BJORKMAN

30465




This action happens in June 1944 in Finland and pits a Russian Guards force supported by half a dozen tanks against a Finnish unit defending a village – which has an ace up their sleeves: A HIP AT-Gun and 3 HIP StuGs of German built that lose Concealment as if they were Guns...

I played the defending Finns in this one.

By the way, if you wonder why I always seem to play the defender – there is a reason for that: Typically, we play face-to-face at my place. So to divide the organizational overhead, my opponent picks the scenario and does the driving while I print out the VASL map, pick all counters for both sides and have a defensive setup ready when he arrives.

This time, my opponent picked a „Russians vs. Finns“ scenario, which was a welcome change. It has been several years since I last played a scenario involving the Finns and I can't even remember if I played them or the Allied side. When I looked up the scenario in ROAR and in the ASL Scenario Archive, I noticed that it has not had many playings yet – two Russian wins vs. three Finnish ones. Scott Holst, the scenario designer, is a known name, the orders of battle, SSRs, setup and entry directions seemed very straightforward. However, the Excitement Rating by ROAR and the Scenario Archive seemed conspiciously low. I did not put much significance to this, as there had not been many playings, after all, and maybe someone just had had a bad day.

The objective for the Russians entering from offboard is to win a certain number of VP with each Stone Building Location and each Level 2 Hill hex Controlled counting as 1VP. There are 10 Stone Building Locations and 13 Level 2 Hill hexes. It is not sufficient to merely Control all Stone Building Locations, a small number of Hill hexes (or less Building Locations and more Level 2 Hill hexes) are necessary to win. With the hills being bare and lying farther to the back with the village before them, apparently, the Stone Building Locations are the foremost objectives.

The Russian force consists of 16 squads, 3x 628s, 3x 458s, and 10x 447s. They are led by three Leaders, a 9-1, 8-1, and 8-0. This force is only equipped with light SW in the form of 3x LMG, 3x DC and a FT. The armored support appears decent with 3x T-34 M43, 2x T-34/85, and a thick-skinned IS-2 tank with a bad-ass 122L gun.

The Finnish defenders are 4x 648, 3x 548, 4x 447, led by a 10-1 and a 9-0 Leader. Their SW complement consists of 2x Russian MMG, 2x Russian LMG (both usable without Captured Use Penalties), and a Panzerschreck. Of course, the Finns – being Finns – are capable of all sorts of ASL-wizardry: Unless Conscripts, they can Self-Rally (in ALL Rally Phases!), are immune to Cowering, and Elite and 1st Line units are Stealthy, have Assault- and Spraying Fire Capabilities. Although not of consequence here, they are all Ski-capable for good measure. Of consequence, Elite and 1st Line MMC may use Panzerfausts per A25.76 as in July 1944 as if Germans, although the chances of finding one is lower and the range limited to one hex. Their support consists of a German built PaK 40 equivalent using black TH#s and 3x StuG IIIG equivalents also using black TH#s with one 9-1 Armor Leader. The latter are also enhanced by the SSR'ed superpower of setting up HIP as if they were Guns and also losing Concealment as if Guns unless they use their AAMG.

This sounded like fun!


The Terrain:
Good ol' board 3! Somebody recently designated it as his „most hated“ board, but I have always liked it. Besides, there were some terrain alterations in the form of three Overalys RttR F, G, and K. I found me scratching my head for a while what RttR might stand for until it finally dawned on me that the Overlays were from the „Rivers to the Reich“ scenario pack, which featured transformations of ancient SL scenarios to ASL. Using these seemed an indication that the scenario designer Scott Holst is of the „old breed“. The only other, but very significant change was that the M2 Stone Building only has a Ground Level. The Russians would enter from the east (Top in the photograps, right in the VASL screenshot), the Finnish would set up on/west of hexrow AA (lower playing area in the photographs, left in the VASL screenshot). As such, the VASL map was quickly created and printed out.

When I had picked the counters and began looking at the map, I paused.

I realized, that this would be a „terrain with an attitude“ for the Russians. There were basically only two hexes, through which the Russian armor would have to pass in order to gain access to the village. If that weren't enough, due to the M2 building being reduced to Ground Level, these hexes could be overviewed from the Level 2 Hill hexes behind the village. The only alternative would be to chance a Bog Check by creating one or more Trailbreaks through a line of Woods. However, to reach that line of Woods, they would first have to trundle through a literal funnel of death, and even if they emerged on the far side, their position seemed very vulnerable.

As my opponent had picked the scenario and knew that he would be playing the Russians, I shrugged off my concerns believing that he must have got some devilry in mind to tackle the issue, though I could not see any apparent solution for it. And I was looking forward to play the Finns after a long time.

(To be continued)
 

von Marwitz

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Finnish Considerations:
Looking at the Victory Conditions, the Russians need all Stone Building Locations and some Level 2 Hill hexes – or less Stone Building Locations and more Level 2 Hill hexes. With the closest Hill hex being 23 hexes away from the board edge and any surviving Russian vehicles only able to attain temporary Control of terrain by the normal rules, it seemed necessary, that some enemy Infantry would have to reach the hills. That would be roughly 3.5 hexes per turn – not considering extra MF costs for terrain nor the Defender's interference.

The Russian Infantry force of 16 squads did pack some punch, but they only had three Leaders. And the Finnish Infantry force of 11 squads was not bad at all either with all its „super powers“, before all that of self-rallying in ANY Rally Phase. On top, the Russians would have to come to the Finnish, who would – at least initially – occupy the more favorable terrain. If the Russians could be deprived of a good portion of their armor support, then the attackers would have a tough job.

The good news was, that the Finnish were well prepared to attempt just that: With three Sturmis and the AT Gun all setting up HIP, while the Russians vehicles had to approach and were channelled by the terrain, it seemed doable. Furthermore, while no Russian AFV were in LOS, the Finnish AFV and the Gun would likely have enough targets among the enemy Infantry. And they could also shoot SMOKE (Gun S7, Sturmis S8), which could temporarily neutralize enemy fire bases or AFV. In all this, they were aided by Black TH#s against Russian Red TH#s.

Obviously, this would become a delaying action and fallback defense, for which the Finnish are well suited. It would be important not to let the Russians catch some Finnish during their retreat.


Russian Considerations:
Damn! How to come to grips with the Finnish before being shot up in the approach? This is the first problem.

For the Russian Infantry, the northern flank with the large patch of Woods offered enough blind hexes. Then they would have to cross the road likely at Y1 and get to the T1 area. From there, they could cross into the central village and push on to the large M2 building (only having a ground level). The areas around Y3 and W3 seemed very hazardous.

On the southern flank, Russian Infantry might dodge forward in the Blind Hexes behind the smaller Woods patches. The real challenge would lie in crossing the road and then to penetrate the Woods via Y8, around U9 to S8. From there, the Russian might cut into the central village.

Maybe this pincer move could force some Finns defending in the center to fall back. But likely, their defence would crystalize when they reached the central village at the latest. It might also have the advantage to stay out of the sights of the Finnish Sturmis and the AT Gun for a while. And all of this would „somehow“ have to happen quickly, because otherwise Russian Infantry might never reach the Level 2 Hills or clear the Stone Building Locations, notably of the M2 building in time.

Second Problem: What to do with the tanks?
By themselves, those six tanks look pretty awesome. But their movement is quite restricted before they can reach the village. The most obvious approaches are via the X2 and X3 hexes. But the area all around is a veritable death zone which the enemy can cover from the Level 2 Hills.

On the Northern flank, AA1 does not seem to by bypassable. Chancing to push through two Woods hexes seems too risky and time consuming and you could still not avoid the death zone around X2 and X3, so that's a non-option.

This would leave only breaking through the Woods line of T6, U6, V5, W5. While this might be within Blind Hexes from the Level 2 Hills, your tanks would first have to reach that Woods line alive. A HIP Sturmi might be lurking in U6 or V5 waiting for you to try just that. Not to mention Finnish Infantry, which might find a PF or wield the PSK. And even if you manage to break through without Bogging, the street behind can be attacked with PFs from the buildings of the central village.

Truth be told, I cannot see any good path for the Russian armor...

Can the Russian tanks instead duel at long range against Finnish Sturmis and the Gun atop the Level 2 Hills in the hazy distance? Not really: It would be Red TH#s of the Russians vs. Black TH#s for the Finnish. The Finnish are Small Targets, the Russians not. The Finnish have Emplacement and Height Advantage at a minimum, maybe Sturmis are Hull Down. The Russians have no Armor Leader, the Finnish have a 9-1AL. Looking at the game of chances, these look rather bleak for the Russians in such a duel. Maybe the IS-2 could be the only exception, because of its thick frontal hide. But even then, its mighty 122L Gun has no ROF, no IF, and B11. If the Finnish would deem it too dangerous, they could likely just shroud it in SMOKE.

As a conclusion, the scenario design seems to indicate, that there are only dangerous „choices“ for the Russian armor and that some losses are hopefully calculated in.

So the Russian Armor must somehow try to get into the village without exposing itself to „overview“ enemy Guns and to avoid HIP Sturmis, and any PF the Finnish may find. And even if they get into the village, most likely some of the Sturmis will still have to be overcome (or even found) at that time.

This scenario seems to be really a tough call on the Russians.

(To be continued...)
 

von Marwitz

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How the Game Played Out:


30466


Finnish Defensive Setup:

The first thing I usually do is to think about the placement of the „heavy weapons“, in this case the 75L AT-Gun and the three StuGs (or rather „Sturmi“ in Finnish). Well, what can I say: Everything screamed: „Set up the Gun and at least one Sturmi on the Level 2 Hills in the back!“. From there, they could cover what appeared to be the „death gap“ through which the Russian armor could attempt to push into the village. And I could – after lots of hex-counting and blind-hex calculations – even see some of the entry hexes of the Russians and approaches. Besides that, the Level 2 Hill hexes also offered a generally good field of fire to all sorts of areas. At least initially, I would be beyond a range of 16 hexes, and with the Sturmis losing Concealment as Guns, I might even fire from those positions while retaining Concealment. Both the Sturmis and the AT Gun were Small Targets. The Gun would set up Emplaced and present an Infantry target. The Sturmi, especially if paired with the Armor Leader, had a fine chance of setting up Hull Down. These units would be out of Long Range of Russian Infantry and even their LMG. The Russian tanks, having to use red TH#s would have to move and dodge Finish shots, that would be fired using black TH#s. Regardless of the way I looked at it, it seemed that I could just sit there with a very low chance of being hit while firing at very decent odds of harming the Russians.

So the AT Gun was Emplaced in H2 and one Sturmi with the Armor Leader CE in K7. Better than hoped for, this Sturmi set up with three sides Hull Down after a low roll. The two other Sturmis would be the „reserve“: One was HIPed in the P2 Building overlooking the road towards the east. The other one lurked HIP in the Woods of R8 with CA of S7 with the intention of receiving any surviving Russian tanks attempting to crash through the Woods and to prey on tanks that might have managed to flee the kill-zone around Y2 and Y3 to U4. At this point, it should be mentioned that despite the Woods overlays extending to the hexsides in some places, LOS along these hexsides is NOT blocked, because Woods are not Inherent Terrain.

With the „heavy weapons“ taken care of, next came the Infantry. Since it was clear that the Russians would have to Control some Level 2 Hill hexes, and that these were far in the backfield, it appeared most likely to me that they would try this at least partly with surviving AFV, granting at least temporary Control of a hex. Thus I deployed one at-start 548 squad into two 238s, which would still be PF capable, to F2 and I7 respectively. There they would be out of LOS of any Russians and Entrench. Besides acting as Sniper Bait to protect the Gun and the CE Sturmi on the hills, as a last-ditch defence, they could attempt to „faust“ a tank, reman the AT-Gun if it had lost its crew or shift positions to be in the way if Russian Infantry would try to clamber up the hills to reach VP-Locations. A Dummy was placed in N4 to complement the Sniper bait protection of the Hill position. Next came the MGs: One 648+MMG went into the 1st Level of R8, covering the road and the flank of the Woodsline. The other 447+MMG with 10-1 went into the 1st Level of S3 covering the „death zone“ around Y2 and Y3. From W2, a 648+LMG could put down a flanking Fire Lane to F5. A 648+LMG would cover the „death funnel“ formed by the Woods around the V7 area and could cover Z6 without Hindrance.

To make the „death funnel“ around V7 appear just like that, I generously populated its fringes with Infantry and Dummies to discourage any Russian thought of attacking in earnest with their Infantry there. If they would not, then my units in the Woodsline from X4 to T4 would already be in place for flanking fire into the „death zone“ around W3 and I could pull out my units from the X8 area to reinforce them or to fall back into the village. The number of counters around the „death funnel“ along with the 9-0 plus 548+PSK in X8 would hopefully also be enough to create a foreboding „There be Panzerfausts“ in the Russian armor to discourage an attempt of a breakthrough here and to ward them off towards the „death zone“ around Y2 and Y3.

Recently, I read that the opponent of one player conceded at right at game start, after the former realized that the latter in his setup had followed the recommendations given by the „redoubtable“ Oberst von Marwitz in an AAR. That said, you might be expecting yet another shining example of the Oberst's brilliant tactical grasp in the setup considerations just provided. In this case, however, any illiterate Russian Conscript would not have had any difficulties to come up with similar conclusions, because the Allies simply do not have many options for their approach – and no good ones among them at all. Besides that, please continue to „overstack“ the Oberst's vanity to counterbalance his 6+1 skill set and by all means surrender upon sight. You shall receive quarter, a cigarette, and sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sheen of his leather riding boots while you work them up to high polish.

(To be continued...)
 

von Marwitz

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Russian Turn 1:


30467

(Situation at Game Start)


As I had hoped, the Russian set up heavily on the northern flank (left on photos). Maybe setting up plenty of Finns on my southern flank (right on phots) including Dummy stacks of two and three „?“ counters had paid dividends. Almost all the armor seemed to be aimed to push straight down the road for starters. The Russian southern (right) flank consisted only of a single tank and most likely two Leader-less squads.

This was good, because my right flank would be able to deal with one tank and two squads, and thus – so I hoped – enable me to shift some of the forces there to the northern side, to make the areas around X2 and X3 yet more hazardous.

There was no fire from my part on his Infantry, three stacks of which CX'ed forward into the large Woods on the northern (left) flank still out of LOS.

Next came his flankers, the two squads eventually advancing to AA7 and AA8 unimpeded. His flanking T-34 M43 moved up along the southern (right) board edge. As I intended to eliminate any diversion on that side as best as possible, I opened up with my AT-Gun in H2 from the far back Level 2 Hill, the first shot was rather low odds, but I hit and got ROF, retaining Concealment. The shot did not penetrate though. The ROF shot at CC10 had quite decent odds, and I hit again; retaining ROF, but the TK was one short of doing any damage. The T-34 then tried to draw some fire from the edge of the Woods, which I withheld, and it ended its movement in Z7 covered by the Wooden Building of Y8.

Then came the brunt of his armored push along the center. I was anxious to see if he would go through the „death funnel“ to break through the woods line, opt for the „death zone“ around X2 and X3 or both.

Then, A T-34 M43 moved into Y2, stopping ADACENT to a still Concealed Finnish unit in X1, which the tankers apparently did not consider to be dangerous. Maybe it wasn't, but my AT-Gun still having ROF back on the hill took careful aim, fired, and Immobilized the tank. Realizing its precarious position, the T-34's Crew bailed out. While subject to Hazardous Movement trying to take cover beneath their tank, my ADJACENT 237 PF-incapable halfsquad dropped concealment for a 4FP @ -1 shot, which killed the Crew. So it had turned out to indeed be dangerous after all. One tank down.

When one T-34/85 with Riders passed Z5, my 648 in W1 opened up to lay down a Fire Lane to get the Riders and to „poison“ the road. That had no effect. The tank with Riders moved on to Z2 where it turned and stopped. When finally in Z2, in order to make some more „death“ happen in the „death zone“, I fired at the Riders with my MMG at 1st Level of S3 directed by my 10-1 for a 6FP @ -1 shot. The Riders broke, had to Bail out and ate the RFP attack when he hit the ground – always dangerous to drive Riders into crosshairs. I believe a broken halfsquad remained.

The second T-34/85 moved to Y3 and stopped in that dangerous spot. Probably, the plan was to overcome me by numbers, which would now become more difficult, because one of his tanks was already destroyed. I hoped that the area around Y3 would develop into the killing ground which I had anticipated.

With his next two T-34 M43, he avoided the „death funnel“ not intenting to break through Woods. They boldly moved up to Y4 and Y5 to stop right in my face sitting in the Woods. As my „face“ consisted of merely of a Dummy and a 2nd Line halfsquad which is not elegible for PFs, I elected to boldly hold my ground to keep him guessing.

The fourth stack of Russians consisting of an 8-0, 458+DC, 458+LMG made it into Z5 unharmed.

Finally, his IS-2 parked in EE6 with the likely intention to duel with my Sturmi and AT Gun on the hills.

Now it was my DFPh: My Sturmi, CE with Armor Leader back on the hill had held its fire to await the final positions of the Russian tanks. The T-34/85 seemed safe behind the X3 building. The IS-2 was rather thick skinned. But counting out the Blind hexes, the T-34/85 in Z2 seemed a valid target. at fine odds at 15 hexes range: Basic TH#8 modfied +1 for L Gun @ +1 Hedge, +2 having moved, -1 for the CE Armor Leader requiring a 7 or less to hit. This turned out to be a darn close shot, because the building of X3 almost blocked the LOS. But LOS was clear, the tank was hit and killed Two tanks down!

During the AFPh, the IS-2 fired but missed the Sturmi as was to be expected. T-34 in Y5 on 237HS in X5 which broke.

The Broken former Russian Riders in Z2 made for the Woods behind them. My Broken 237 routed back along the Woods line to U6.

With regard to Advances, a 8-0 with 458+DC went into the Y6 building, the other 458+LMG squad took cover beneath the T-34 in Y5. His two flanking squads advanced into the Woods of AA7 and AA8. Masses of infantry shifted around the AA1 and AA2 Woods areas.

(To be continued...)
 

von Marwitz

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Map Key:
Red arrows indicate the approximate Russian moves of Turn 1. Green arrows indicate the approximate Russian moves of Turn 2. Blue arrows indicate the approximate Finnish moves of Turn 1 & 2. Blue „X“s indicate shots with the Gun/Sturmi from the Level 2 Hills. Blue circles indicate the positions of the Sturmis, the blue circle with a „G“ indicates the position of the AT-Gun.


30468


Finnish Turn 1:
I deployed the 447 manning the MMG in 1st Level of S3 and the 548 with the PSK in X8. A wall of bodies could not hurt in this one, and as long as Russians had to cross some Open Ground or streets, 2FP shots would be a pain for him. No one rallied.

Atop the hills the two 238 halfsquads began to Entrench, both aquiring a -1 Labor Counter.

With his surviving T-34/85 parked in the „death zone“ in Y3, my AT-Gun on the hill happily fired away at 17 hexes range needing a 9 TH due to the long barrel length. The tank was hit and went up in a Blaze. Three tanks down.

For the Sturmi on the hill, I now had to decide what to do: Should I move out or stay put? The only thing which could harm me was the IS-2 back in EE6. At 20 hex range, he had a Basic Red TH# of 6 +1 for Barrel Length. He had -1 AQ but was BU +1, the Sturmi was a Small Target +1, and it was Hull Down. If I moved, I would instantly lose the HD benefit on the Start-MP expenditure, which would significantly increase his chances from needing a 6 and a Turret hit to needing a 7 without need of a Turret hit. I realized, that I had made a mistake: The right thing to do would have been to attempt firing SMOKE (s8) first thing before the AT-Gun. It would have hit the IS-2 on a 9 or less, i.e. if the Sturmi would have found any SMOKE, it would have shrouded the enemy behemoth and effectively blinded him. Alas, too late now. I decided to sweat it out and to stay put. His tank had neither ROF nor IF, so he only had a 16.7% chance to hit me, which would merely increase to 25% in his next upcoming PrepFire – even a small tad less because of his B11. Instead, my valiant Armor Leader ordered an AP round to be slammed in to show him! It would have been sweet, but as was to be expected, it bounced off without effect.

Then it was time for my Infantry: The 447 in X10 shot at one of the two Russian 447s forming the southern (right) flank and managed to break it. My MMG in S3 1st Level wanted to finish the work on some Russians in the AA tree line. They did all too literally, malfing the MMG. Doh!

During the MPh, I skulked back some forward units out of LOS to advance back later. I also began to shift some units from my southern (right) flank through the Woods out of LOS towards the center. I seem to recall that sometime during this turn, the Russians triggered my Sniper. I rolled a „1“, so it would be a „good“ one. I had placed my Sniper way back close to the hills to act as Sniper Bait along with the halfsquads and a Dummy to protect my precious AT Gun against his Sniper, which he had placed in the vincinity as I had foreseen. This meant, of course, that if my Sniper was activated, the closest target would be his Sniper. With his SAN only being 2, my „good“ Sniper put a timely end to his. Excellent!

During the DFPh, his IS-2 fired at my Sturmi but missed – it was now under a -2 AQ, though. The Russian Infatry was not yet in good positions to fully bring their firepower to bear. Thus the Finns did not take any damage except one 548 losing Concealment in the Woods line in W5.

My Finns had nothing to Rout. I seem to recall that I might have re-DM'ed his broken FT-squad, which now sought out a Leader. On the southern (right in photographs) flank, the broken 447 elected to remain his patch of Woods in AA8.

The APh saw some of my units get back to the front after having skulked and to improve their positions somewhat. A Concealed 238+PSK crept up to V3, from which it could threaten tanks on both sides from the central Woods line.

Ah, and then, here's one for the bucket list: Since the Russian T-34 M43 in Y2 lay there Abandoned with its crew sprawled around dead, my pesky 237 halfsquad which had shot them and somehow escaped Russian wrath was getting cocky. They advanced into CC with the tank, automatically capturing it as a temporary Crew. This is when they realized, that the damn thing was Immobilized (which I had forgotten in the excitement...), so their glorious plan to drive off with it would not do. Nevertheless, even with its VCA and TCA still pointing the „wrong“ way, the Russian Infanty forming up in the nearby Woods now had an extra problem to wrap their minds around when they wanted to cross the Y-road towards the village in their upcoming turn.


(To be continued...)
 

von Marwitz

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Russian Turn 2:
During the Rally Phase, the broken 447 in AA8 came back with an attitude. The same was true for my MMG, which I repaired in S3 1st Level. My broken 237 in U6 also came back, which would turn out to be handy later.

The Russians opened their PFPh by firing his IS-2 in EE6 at my Sturmi on the hill rolling a 5 with a cdr of 1 for a turret hit negating Hull Down. It went up in flames and my mistake had been punished.

On the northern flank (left in the photos), the T-34 M43 captured by the Finns now created problems for the movement of the bulk of the Russian Infantry here. First, they could not simply walk through the hex because it was occupied by a – now – enemy unit. This left Y1 for crossing the road to press on along that flank, which used to be conveniently out of LOS of the Finns – before they had captured the tank. The tank's VCA and TCA was pointing the wrong way, but still passing through Y1 had the potential to go awry if not addressed. Any one of us has suffered through what this can mean... So its Russian counterpart in Y4 tried to kill it. To do so, it would have to turn its turret, fire through the Burning Wreck hex while remaining BU due to Restricted Slow Traverse but having the benefit of Point Blank range. Its fire failed to kill the Finnish tank.
Besides that, the Russian Infantry was not in position to engage my defenders in earnest yet.

So there was no more significant Prep Fire and they began their Movement.

On the southern flank (right in the photos), the two Russian flanking 447s made it into the Y8 building on the fringes of the Woods. In the center, they Assault Moved cautiously into the fringes of the Woods, since the area was still full of Concealed Finns, one 458+LMG into X4, the other 458+DC with 8-0 Leader inot X5, while the hex W4 between these Russians and the Finnish defenders remained empty.

On the northern flank (left in the photos), a Russian squad successfully „optimally Placed“ a DC on the Finnish T-34, which would – barring DC malfunction – doom it. But only in the AFPh...

Maybe to pull away the Finnish T-34's attentions from his Infantry or for the mere fact that there seemed to be no really good options for the Russian T-34 M43 in Y5, it started up and carefully rounded the corner bypassing the X3 building. As my Finnish T-34 was doomed and his T-34 presented his side armor to it, these were likely the best odds for bad shots which I would get. So the Finns cranked around their T-34's turret, searched for APCR, found none, slammed in an AP round hellbent to dispose of the enemy tank in style. Unqualified use, Captured Use, turning the turret and being BU along with their target having moved was enough for them to miss. But my AT-Gun on the hill noted their plight: It's shot hit the Russian T-34 on the X3-X2 hexside and Shocked the crew.

Next, his FT-squad sneaked into Z2 behind the Finnish T-34. Determining that due to its previous TCA change any fire on Y1 would likely have not much effect, instead it turned the turret a little further to fire the CMG in the FT-squad and contrieved to break it.

This „opened“ the Y1 road hex for safe passage for the Russians. He sent through a 447 to X1, which my Finnish T-34's BMG could not harm. I held the fire of my ADJACENT 648+LMG, since I was expecting many more Russians to follow up to X0. A big Russian stack did, but stopped in the Y1 road rather than risking a 16FP @ +1Woods -1 FFNAM in X0.

The rest of the Russian Infantry shuffled around in Z0 and Z1, so during Russian Turn 2, my Finns had so far managed to still plug enemy access to the village.

Up came the Finnish DFPh. On the southern flank (right in the photos), my 447 in X9 managed to break one of the two Russian 447s in Y8. My 238+PSK in the Woods line in V5 had a 3 hex range bead on the Shocked T-34 in bypass of X3. Needing a 7 TH, alas it rolled a 10 to miss and to X out the PSK on its first shot. My MMG positions in the 1st Levels of S3 and R8 tried to harm some of the Russian Infantry on the northern flank without effect. An 8FP @ +1 Woods by my 648+LMG in W1 against his 458+LMG in X4 had no effect either.

During the AFPh, the DC Placed on the Finnish T-34 detonated and destroyed it, killing my glorious Finnish 237 Temporary Crew. But only after the latter 237 had created an inordinate number of problems for the attacking Russians. I seem to reall that the 8-0, 458+DC in the X5 Woods broke a Finnish halfsquad in nearby Woods.

In the RtPh, the broken Russian 447 in Y8 stayed with their unbroken comrades in the building. The broken FT-squad found a nearby Leader in the Z1 building. My broken halfsquad did the same with the Finnish 9-0 in T6.

I can't remember the details of the Russian Advances. Some Concealed Russians advanced beneath the Weck of the Finnish T-34. Besides that, the Russians were rather careful because advances would have meant placing themselves unconcealed into Point Blank range of significant Finnish Infantry firepower.

There were no Close Combats, one Russian squad gained Concealment in Y1.


(To be continued...)
 

von Marwitz

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Finnish Turn 2:
So far, the Infantry of neither side had taken too much damage. Besides the Finnish 237 in T6, nobody managed to rally. The Russian T-34 M43 in Bypass of X3 flipped from Shocked to Unconfirmed Kill.

During my PFPh, I fired my AT-Gun on the hill at the T-34 M43 to turn the Unconfirmed Kill into a confirmed one. The Gun scored a hit, but could not destroy the tank. So tank-wise, the score remained three tanks down, one UK, with the IS-2 and one T-34 M43 still in action. I had lost one Sturmi with the AL, while the two remaining Sturmis were still HIP and had not yet fired a shot.

I continued digging Foxholes on the hills, succeeded once and gained a -2 Labor Counter for the other.

My Infantry in the central village made some shots, among them the second MMG which sat in R8 1st Level, whose shot on the Z1 building re-DM'ed the Russian FT-squad but malfed while doing so. Since no one else was in LOS, my 648+LMG opened up at the 458+LMG in X4 scoring a lucky K/2 result, The surviving Russian halfsquad rolled boxcars, so all what remained in X4 was dead bodies and an upossessed LMG. This was a very important result, because it softened up the Russian's attack in the center significantly. Now there was only the 8-0, a 458+DC left in the center in X5 next to the left over unpossessed LMG in X4. And in the Woods line only two hexes away from X5, I had another Concealed 648+LMG which had not entered the fray up to this point. Now it poured out all it had – Lady Luck shone on me, the 458+DC in X5 broke!

After this very effective PrepFire at the Russian center, I feverishly began counting my remaining units and Movement factors and came up with a plan. With a bit of luck, I might be able to wipe out the entire Russian center and his units on my southern (right in the photos) flank.

First, I Assault Moved a Dummy into X8 ADJACENT to the Y8 building with one GO and one broken Russian 447 therein. I hoped to draw some fire, but my opponent did not take the bait. Next, the Finnish 447 from X10 moved next to the Russian held building, re-DM'ing the broken Russian 447 therein and - of course – drawing the attention of the GO 447, which First and Final Fired. The Russians gacked one attack and my glorious Finns Morale was sterling enough to survive the 2MC caused by the second! Just to add insult to the Russian injury, the second attack triggered a „hot“ Finnish Sniper, which broke a Russian 447 in X1.

With this, half of the base was laid to prevent escape for the broken Russkies from the Y8 building during Rout, and the GO 447 was Final Fired and had Target Selection Limits imposed by my ADJACENT Finns.

Next, a Finnish 238 took off from V7 sauntering across the clearing into the Y6 building with the Russian 8-0 beneath his broken 458+DC in X5 only being able to helplessly watch on while I moved into his back. My opponent realized the danger and used all the weapons of his remaining unscathed T-34 M43 in Y4 to attack my 238 when it entered the V7 building – to no avail.

Now I moved my just rallied 237 from T6 into W5 bypassing the Woods line on the „safe side“ which closed the trap for the Russian broken 458+DC with the lone GO 8-0 Leader in X5.

What was left to do was to cut off the Rout path of the broken 447 in the Y8 building, for which I needed to reach the Y7 orchard in Good Order. Luckily, I had a „volunteer“ halfsquad ready for that purpose. The halfsquad could move with impunity before entering the Y7 Orchard, but when it entered there, the Russian 447 decided to chance Final Protective Fire to stop it and, indeed, succeeded in breaking my „volunteers“ and ELR'ing them.

There was no meaningful Defensive Fire left for the Russians.

The same was true for my Advancing Fire: My 447 in X8 had no effect on the Russian 447 in Y8, and I elected to play it safe not firing into the hex with the Russian 8-0 and broken 458+DC to avoid possible Heat of Battle shenanigans.

My broken 227 Conscript halfsquad in the Y7 Orchard would have to Rout first. If it could Rout at all: This hinged on whether the IS-2 tank could see my Conscript Brokies in their current position. A LOS check clarified that this was not the case – just barely. This allowed them to Low Crawl into Z6.

In turn, that Low Crawl spelled doom on the broken Russian 447 in Y8, which now would have to either rout towards a Known Armed broken enemy unit (my Conscripts) or be subject to Interdiction in Z8. So it surrendered to my 447 in X8.

The broken Russians in X5 were surrounded by two of my halfsquads in the Y6 building and the W5 Woods and thus had to surrender, too. Looking at the counters after the game, I now realize that it was not merely one squad, but 1.5 squads which surrendered to the W5 squads on the occasion. Can't recall the story of the surrendering halfsquad, maybe these originally were some Russian Riders.

My 238 in the Y6 building advanced into CC with the Russian 8-0. Then, I advanced back the Russian Prisoners with their Guards and shuffled some Finns forward to improve the positions against the sole surviving Russian 447 in the center and southern flank which still sat in the Y8 building.

In the CCPh, my Stealthy 238 Ambushed the sole Russian 8-0 in X5, but managed to gack its CC roll. The Leader was unsuccessful as well, so a Melee ensued.

With Finnish Turn 2 concluded, my opponent conceded. Finnish win.

30469

(Situation at Game End - large)




30470

(Situation at Game End - small)


(To be continued...)
 

von Marwitz

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Review:
This was an uphill battle for the Russians from the start. After Finnish Turn 2, the Russians had lost three out of six tanks and a fourth one was an Unconfirmed Kill and under a -2 Acquisition by my 75L AT-Gun. While I had lost one Sturmi at least partly if not mainly due to my own mistake, the two others were still HIP and had not even fired a shot yet.

Finnish Turn 2 had proved to be catastrophic for the Russians in the center and the southern flank: They suffered one squad killed and 3.5 squads taken Prisoner with the Russian 8-0 Leader finding himself in unfavorable Melee odds with a Finnish 238. The single lonely 447 remaining in the Y8 building had no realistic hope of making it through the Woods towards the village without any support.

On the northern flank (left in the photos), the Russians had 7 GO squads left with the 9-1 and 8-1 Leaders along with some SW, while 2.5 squad equivalents, the FT-squad among them, were broken. With the southern attack of the Russians crushed, the Finns could now concentrate their units towards the northern side before the Russians had reached even the outer fringes of the village.

Looking at the situation, the outlook for the Russians was beyond hope.

While my Finns had been lucky to collapse the entire Russian attack in the center and southern flank in Turn 2, I still don't know how they should have met the VC even without the horrendous losses there. The area around Y2 and Y3 had turned into a tank killing zone as anticipated with basically 4 out of six Russian tanks being destroyed there more or less like sitting ducks.

Would things have changed if the Russians had instead opted to push through the V-shaped clearing between the central Woods and then risked Bog to Trailbreak through the Woods line? I doubt it. Maybe, the tanks would have had less exposure (without being entirely free from it) to the AT-Gun and Sturmi on the hill. But then, the V-shaped clearing was covered by three Finnish elite squads with PF capability and the PSK. The additional time the Russian tanks would have needed to break through the Woods line could have been used by the Finns to receive them with PF-capable squads from the cover of the buildings of the central village when the vehicles emerged. And the Finns could have repositioned yet uncommitted Hidden Sturmis.

What if Russian armor AND Russian Infantry would have placed their Schwerpunkt on the southern flank (right on the photos)? I believe even then they would have needed three Turns under the best of circumstances to push through. Which would leave them only four more Movement Phases to fight through the entire village, secure the M2 building AND to get at least some Infantry to help any surviving Russian tanks to capture Level 2 Hill Locations.

As a conclusion, I believe that my initial impression that this scenario is very hard on the Russians has been validated by play and by hindsight.

That said, the basic tactical situation of the scenario is interesting enough. But I believe to make it work well, it needs some adjustment and review.


von Marwitz
 
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